Life isn’t supposed to be easy for an expansion team, so says American sports history and conventional theory. But while Bob Bradley is a history buff, his theories — particularly around Major League Soccer’s newest club — are anything but conformist.

Bradley, the former United States men's national team head coach, now leads LAFC, which became MLS’ 23rd entrant this season and has willingly set the bar extraordinarily high for itself. Not only does it want to make a quick and early impact on the league, it wants to usurp the popularity of local rival the Los Angeles Galaxy — the most successful team in MLS history no less — and capture the soccer soul of the City of Angels.

“When you look at soccer around the world and the passion and feeling we all love about it, so much of that is built on intense local rivalries,” Bradley told USA TODAY Sports in a recent interview. “When you are starting something new you want people to feel good and uplifted and energized by what they are involved in. Certainly the concept of one-upping your neighbor is part of that.”

The first salvos in that fledgling rivalry will be fired on the field on Saturday, when the squads meet in a regular season game at the Galaxy’s StubHub Center, yet in truth the battle for L.A. began as soon as LAFC’s introduction was inked three years ago.

“They’ve got a new fan base who kind of think they’re the best team in L.A.,” Galaxy defender Ashley Cole said. “We have to prove our characteristics and our history.”

With the Galaxy having won a record five MLS Cups, LAFC’s lofty ambitions might sound like pipe dreams but you consider the heavyweight clout behind the club things begin to come into clearer focus. On the investment side figures such as Magic Johnson, Golden State Warriors owner Peter Guber and renowned life coach Tony Robbins have pumped in money. So too have actor Will Ferrell, Twitter co-founder Chad Hurley, and sports power couple Nomar Garciaparra and Mia Hamm.

LAFC will not play any of its first six games at home as its new Banc of California Stadium won’t be ready until the end of April. Regardless, the team has won its first two matchups with a group of players that are still getting to know one another. With its sleek black-and-gold logo, its downtown base and young demographic focus, it has generated plenty of buzz both in the city and around the league.

After the Galaxy endured one of its worst ever seasons in 2017 to finish bottom of the Western Conference, it secured just 9,500 season ticket holders for this campaign, according to the Los Angeles Times. When LAFC reported sales of 17,000, it seemed like the new outfit was winning the fight for significance just weeks into its formal existence.

Ibrahimovic, the giant, ever-confident Swedish striker whose career path has been a trail through many of Europe’s greatest clubs — most recently Manchester United — is perhaps MLS’ highest-profile acquisition since David Beckham donned Galaxy colors in 2007.

Ibrahimovic was greeted by a throng a fans at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday night and there is a chance he plays a small role on Saturday. In the contest for fan numbers and relevance, his signing is a serious power play from the Galaxy.

“You’re not talking about a normal, mortal human,” Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid said of Ibrahimovic. “I am sure he would tell you the same.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic practices with the Galaxy for the first time on Friday.(Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Getty Images)

USA TODAY Sports spoke to Bradley before Ibrahimovic signed but the coach has already made noises about being excited by the Galaxy’s elite acquisition rather than perturbed by it. And while the rivalry is both real and crucial for both teams, there is plenty more on Bradley’s plate.

In some ways, LAFC has the feel of a tech start-up and the energy that goes along with it, but those factors need to be sustained by success. L.A. is a city that’s had losing teams before, but it doesn’t tolerate them very patiently.

Bradley’s own tale is one of redemption. He was treated harshly by U.S. Soccer’s then-president Sunil Gulati and fired a year after the 2010 World Cup where he took the team to the round of 16. Jurgen Klinsmann matched but could not eclipse that effort four years later, then a disastrous mix of Klinsmann and Arena combined to steer the U.S. to its most abject nightmare, missing out on the 2018 World Cup altogether.

After his U.S. tenure, Bradley had a strong stint in charge of Egypt, went to Norway’s Stabaek and France’s Le Havre, before being given the opportunity to become the first American to lead an English Premier League team. But he lasted only 11 games at Swansea, unable to lift a poor squad to punch above its weight and suffered from the complete lack of patience with coaches that the EPL is known for.

With MLS’ player pool becoming increasingly global, Bradley’s international knowledge and history of steering an expansion team — his Chicago Fire won the 1998 MLS Cup in its first season — made him an obvious choice for the job.

“I love how everything about this feels new,” he added. “People can say it isn’t easy being an expansion team but there is always something stacked against you. Getting to start completely anew and figure out ways to do things right, that’s an advantage not everyone has. It is one we have to make the most of.”

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